Bigger human genome pool uncovers more rare variants

Thanks to powerful computational tools developed at Simon Fraser University, more than 100 scientists from around the world have genetically mapped the largest and most varied number of human genomes to date.

The scientists, including SFU doctoral students Iman Hajirasouliha and Fereydoun Hormozdiari (recently graduated), sequenced and analyzed a pool of 1092 human genomes. Hormozdiari is now pursuing postdoctoral studies at the University of Washington.

The scientists sequenced the genomes of individuals from 14 different populations (five from Europe; three from Africa; three from East Asia; three from the Americas). The researchers used computational tools developed in Cenk Sahinalp’s lab to discover many variants in those genomes. Sahinalp, who is Hajirasouliha’s and Hormozdiari’s doctoral supervisor, is a professor in SFU’s School of Computing Science.

In the largest previous study, which also involved Hajirasouliha and Hormozdiari in Sahinalp’s lab, scientists sequenced the genomes of 185 people selected from an original pool of 1,000 human genomes.

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